Well.. with all due resepct Leeloo, that topic first of all just reported on rumors. It didn’t ask for all of us to speculate right? But if you want to specualte, then do it in that post and not in this. We still have our comments policy that you can read under “About” in the menu at the top of the site.

The big problem with speculating here in single posts is that when we post a new post the older posts go further down on the site.. and after a couple of days it is not possible to enter a comment into a post, making it difficult to keep track of the comments. So then we have the forum, which is open to read for everyone, and you use the same login as here. And there the post keeps open.

hmmm, there is a fine balance – after all Lars is a PR guy and will put forward whatever story he would rather we hear than the press speculation – neither are probably 100% correct, the truth normally lies somewhere in the middle I find……

Interesting post on Inside.Saab however it is not the same situation as when GM considered shutting Saab down. At that time GM paid all the supplier’s bills and I am fairly sure it also made provision so that the employees were paid on time even when Saab was in legal reorganisation.

In this stage, it could actually be that way that the Swedish enforcement agency will capture any liquidity coming in on the accounts to be processed to the sub suppliers. which of course is completely right. The situation as of monday is actually that the enforcement agency keep track of funds coming in to Saab and will freeze and secure it straight away.

They will only do that if the company having the claim asks them to do that. By having a claim through Kronofogden (Swedish Enforcement Agency) doesn’t automatically means they confiscate everything at once – it is up to the company who has the claim to make the decisions.

According to a source DI has quoted, the funds that were intended to cover the white collar workers’ pay checks (approx MSEK 45) was to come from the Gemini Investment Fund.

Let’s first go back a bit in time: On May 3 SWAN secured short-term funding through a €30 million ($44.7 million) convertible loan agreement with Gemini Investment Fund. On June 29 it was announced that SWAN secured a MSEK 230 (€25-million) bridge loan from Gemini Investment Fund providing a “life preserver” allowing Saab to pay the June wages.

During July MSEK 205 were transferred to Saab’s account and recently another 25 MSEK were transferred as part of the real estate deal, says Lennart Schuss, VP of Saabs financial advisor Catella in a DI interview.

The sale of 582 cars to an unidentified dealer in China resulted in further revenues of MSEK 120.

Saab needs just over MSEK 100 per month to cover wages. In July more than MSEK 500 was supposedly added to the bank account. Assuming that 100 went to paying the June salaries and 55 have gone to pay for blue collar salaries in July – where did the rest go?

OR is it so that the Gemini bridge loan of June 29 was never shifted or not transferred in full? Some of it must have arrived, since the June salaries were paid quite soon after June 27, but it is concerning that a “friendly” source of money such as Gemini does not deliver on time. Evidently there have been problems in the talks between Saab and Gemini regarding legal issues and/or securities for the loan.

Swade recently wrote:As noted in the press release, there are several financial arrangements in place from which the funding that was promised to Saab has not yet arrived in our accounts. There are various regulatory bodies involved in these transfers, in various countries, and for reasons unknown to people at my paygrade, these funds have been stopped at the border.

My comment to that is: I don’t believe it. A similar loan was made out to SWAN in May. Based on what the “various regulatory bodies” had to say about that loan one could have anticipated what time it would take to get the money in to the right account. And surely that money did not take more than 2 months to arrive. Or did it?

Well – you comment on Swades post at Inside Saab and that is not the topic here. So stick to the comment. One thing is for sure – there are financial agreements that we don’t have 100% information on – as with all other companies in the world. We don’t know everything, so I say we should hesitate from making speculations.

OK, well there are news reports saying that it is Gemini funds which have not arrived. Swade has said that the issues are above his paygrade. That’s a shame; back in the day, Swade at SU seemed to have a hotline to VM, but no longer

In the mean time, other news reports this morning are quoting various people as saying that the EIB has definitely ruled-out VA as an owner for Saab. If that is so, this is a real test for VA’s support; can he work to find a solution to all of this despite being continually denied his ambitions?

Carl-Henrik: I’m not going to debate your comments policy here; you’ve made your position clear, and we have to lump it or move on.

My post, however, was TOTALLY on-topic; I dealt with Antanov and with the information flow, both of which were the topic of the original post. If asides are not allowed, however, then you’re going to end up like King Canute…

Because that is how conversation works; 1 person speaks, then another.

This is the problem with stupid blog comments systems; they don’t work like human conversations, so they seldom work at all.

Just link each article with a forum post – see Pistonheads for how to do it, say – and then let a proper forum allow proper conversations. This page is just a sea of ‘reply’ buttons, which isn’t how human communications work!

You can’t force people to use something ‘your way’; if they don’t naturally use it the way you intended, you must change it so that it is more ‘natural’ for them to operate the way you intend.

Please read the guidelines regarding posting comments here at SU under “About” up in the menu. Yes, your first part is perhaps regarding the topic. I say perhaps, because the topic is that “Antonov is trying to save the situation”. The topic is not “What is your thoughts regarding the financial situation”.

Of course can you ask questions – regadring the topic of the post. If you want to specualte – use the forum. You have the link at the top. It’s the same username and password you use here. And it is open for everybody to read.

I might just add that any cash coming from Gemini would involve only two borders: out of the Bahamas and in to the EU. If a transfer was being made involving a number of 3rd World states I would believe the whole transfer could take a few weeks. But from the Bahamas to the EU? No way…… When somebody presses “SEND” the money would have been available within a few hours.

The problem must be that the person responsible for pressing the “SEND-button” didn’t press it properly, and I wish I knew why.

You’re not right about that! I have tried to transfer money from Turkey to Sweden which is basically within Europe. Different banks had different times. Garanti Bank for example in Turkey took up to 7 days to transfer money due to the different agreements they had for money transfer. Fortis did it in one hour…

And when in Turkey you were representing an investment fund and you were in the process of transferring a few hundred million Swedish crowns?

Come on TimR, Garanti bank wanted to hang on to your money and get a week’s interest. They do that to privare customers if they can. If you had been a friend of the manager, they would have done it in 30 minutes.

Dear Saabosts. When a company is in troubled waters all constituencies are trying to collect as much money and are chasing the company, I feel sure that the management team is aware of this fact that they have nothing but chasers of the situation and that they have to overcome the inpasses of cash. I trust that VM is going to solve the problem and also Mr. Antonov is inclined to help. Let them have a few days and I am sure that also the “white collar” employees will be paid but a battle at all fronts does not leave room to please all. My hear is with the employees and I am sure they won’t let be down because there is only one goal to achieve that finally the company can return to normal daily business that is returning to production and selling cars and that is what we all wish. So stop to develop all sort of visions about shortcomings. We as fans do believe in the company and its management team, just allow a few days and you will see the miracle that all can be solved if the financial means demanded from each corner can be covered! Stop deposing doubt, there has to be expressed faith in this tight situation in order to give support to the management.

I share your optimism. I know that what VM can say is constrained by many things, not least the regulatory framework of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. But it would be good for VA to be a ‘front’ for some form of communication in these troubled times.

I hope I don’t get banned or shouted at for this post but former SAAB trades union boss Paul Åkerlund touched on this topic in an intreview in DI today.

The headline in Swedish is : SAAB behöver en ny VD

Here is a rough translation:

-In my opinion Victor Muller is not suitable as president of SAAB. We need a new president, “said Paul Åkerlund to di.se.

Saab’s owner and Chairman of the Board Victor Muller took over as president/CEO after Jan Åke Jonsson, who left the job earlier this spring. Muller, according to Paul Akerlund has done many good efforts to find solutions to Saab’s problems, but should now look for a new CEO for the company.

-”Saab could use a good person who knows the automotive industry and is willing to take on this challenge. Because it will be a very tough job,” he says.

On Tuesday, there were new reports that Saab cannot pay salaries to their white collar workers. Paul Akerlund, former boss of the blue collar union at the car plant, was deeply troubled when he received the news.

-”It is tragic. As I understand it SAAB has not received money as agreed. It makes the situation doubly troubling, “he says.

Paul Akerlund thinks Saab’s situation is very serious. The brand has taken an extremely bad beating and the mess with wages has left its mark on the employees. He feels the frustration has increased, after the first wage freeze earlier this summer.

-”It’s a huge blow when the salary doen’t come on time. Whatever the situation in the past the money has always been ther on time. Deep down, probably one or two reflect over the situation a little more now than before, “he says.

Despite the crisis, he believes that Saab will survive. Although the EIB, and the government seem to object he believes that the Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov will go in as a shareholder in the company. He expects that production will start rolling within a month.

-”People are working intensively on finding new solutions. I still think it is realistic that production can be started in late August. But many pieces have to fall into place, “said Paul Åkerlund.

VM has already acknowledged a few times he won’t be the CEO of Saab but it’s pretty difficult to find a new one with Saab being in its current position… I’m sure Saab will have a new CEO once the deals with the Chinese companies and other investment companies have been signed.

I don’t know guys, but it seems to me that all efforts to revitalize SAAB are necessarily a Band-Aid approach. Realistically, I don’t know what alternatives there are. You hear of people living from paycheck to paycheck. The situation with SAAB is that the paycheck provider is struggling to pay the checks. If the factory ever gets back to consistently producing cars, then enough people who feel confident to buy need to be found. I love Saabs and I have for a long time. My purpose is not to be a wet blanket. I just wanted to express how things seem to look for carrying on. In any case, I think everyone should keep fighting to save SAAB until there’s nothing else that can be done. If SAAB doesn’t make it, I think we will all want to go in mourning. I hope and pray that SAAB will miraculouly be healed of financial strife.